it might just all be a bad dream
by kohlbits
Summary: set in the future, lots of drama, please read!
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome! thanks for checking out my fic! It's going to be filled with lots of drama, let me know what you think!**

So it happened one night when Paige was sitting happily with her girlfriend, Sarah, of 2 years in their first apartment together, when one of her girlfriend's straight friend's started talking about a girl crush she had in high school. Paige was playing on myspace as she had done since she finally signed up for it a year ago while Sarah and her friends were playing _Mario Party_ on the Nintendo Wii.

Paige was sitting on the couch in the living room preoccupied by the gossips of myspace to really pay too much attention to the game that was being played on the 27 inch flat screen TV in front of her. "Oh my god, hun!" she gasped as she took a hit from the joint that was being passed around and looked at Sarah, "Ash and Rae just broke up!"

"Are you serious? They have two kids together, I never would have thought in a million years that those two would ever break up!" Sarah said intensely as she caught Paige's eyes. Sarah's straight friend Kasey was then brought in on the conversation, and how Ash and Rae were a lesbian couple in their mid 20's, a little older than Paige herself, with very young kids. The three discussed how crappy it is to break up, especially with your first love, slash first Everything. Being that Paige was just a little more than stoned, she began reminiscing about her high school days as Sarah and Kasey got back to playing their game, and Sarah continued on with her story about having a girl crush in high school. Then she said, "I wonder what she's up to", which was the perfect In for Paige to do a myspace search.

"What better way to find out then to check it out on myspace?!" she smiled, "what's her name? Is she cute?" then Paige chuckled, "would I think she's cute?" Paige, the girly girl, liked butch girls, or as she claims, _Soft Butch_. Kasey gave her the name of the girl she had the crush on, but as soon as the girl was found, Paige lost interest—of course the girl was a girly girl too. She looked even girlier than Paige, which is really hard to believe, and besides, she wasn't attracted to that type of girl. About 5 minutes later they all continued on with what they were doing while Paige decided to delve right into the unknown. She typed in her high school flame under _People Search_ and began to weed out the people who weren't anything like the person she was looking for. The search started with over 100 names, but when she put in a little more information, she came up with three profiles.

Then she found it...There it was, the one person she had thought about everyday since they broke up her freshman year of college. The one person who had her heart completely, the one person who showed her that it's okay to love, and that it doesnt matter who you love, just that you do. She stared at the profile picture for a minute, letting her emotions do their dances before continuing on. She was a reserved excited, not sure if it was a good idea to continue down the unknown path—especially while high. She clicked on the picture to go to the picture albums, but there were no other pictures besides the profile picture, which was of herself and what looked to be her mom. They were both smiling.

She thought to herself, _the reason we broke up was because she wasn't ready to grow up, and I wasn't ready to take care of both of us..._ she looked up from the computer to see how involved everybody else was in their game, then realized she was still safe to continue what she was doing—thinking about the past. _If she's still like that then nothing could ever come of anything...but..._ she shook her head slightly, _but what if she's changed...from just seeing this profile makes my heart jump, there is no way I'm over her, and I never said I was..._

and with that, she hesitantly clicked on the "message me" link to write a message to this long lost person. She sat in front of the screen for a few minutes without typing anything, but then reality got the best of her and she realized that writing a message out of the blue might be weird, so she decided to check out the profile instead. She noticed that this person hadn't signed on for over 2 months, but then she scrolled down to the _Status_ section and she read _In a Relationship, _and saw that her orientation was _Lesbian_.

Paige smiled to herself, _that's a relief_. She then clicked on the "view all friends" section and noticed that Marco was her friend! How did she not know this?! Oh wait, its because when she moved away from her family and friends to be with her girlfriend a year and a half ago to start a relatively new life with less drama, she forgot to keep in touch with the ones who meant the most.

Paige wasnt too sure how she got to where she's at, she just knows that after the break up she had blinders on, worked her way up the corporate ladder, got a job offer 1.25 hours further away than she already was while at Banting, buried herself in her studies, ran into Alex a year later and they talked briefly about the past but that was short lived like everything else that came Paige's way, somehow got into a relationship and viola, the rest is herstory. The passed 4 years have gone by so quickly that she hardly had time to think about the people from her past even though she did, daily. She was stronger now, or at least, she came off to people that way.

It had been over 2 years since she had spoken to anybody from high school, and she was just now realizing that it hurt, and that she missed it—she missed home. As she continued thinking to herself, she absent-mindedly clicked on another person's profile, it was of Alex's best friend. The profile picture was of the best friend who appeared to now have a baby(!) and of Alex, sitting happily at a restaurant table. The caption read, "proud mommies"

_What the Fuck!?_ Paige choked, _You're Pregnant?!_

so many things were going on in Paige's head, she felt as though her head was swimming, she wished she never attempted to find this person! She wished she could erase all this new information away, she suddenly felt betrayed! She clicked faster through the photos then came upon another picture, it was of the girl she once loved, sitting on the lap of a boy! A boy?! And the caption read "happy parents" again, _What the fuck!_ She quickly looked up from the computer only to realize that Sarah and her friends were too invested in their game to see the turmoil on Paige's face. She quickly regained her composure, shut the computer off then told everybody goodnight. She kissed Sarah lightly on the lips before heading to the bedroom. Still unsure of what she just found. As soon as she hit the pillow, her eyes released the floodgates of water and tears began streaming down her face. Instead of trying to stop them, she let them flow, for some reason it felt good to cry, to cleanse the craziness away. Or to try to understand how Alex could do that. She and Alex were so in love once, and you can't just up and find that with somebody else...much less a guy... Paige felt so confused, she fell asleep to the hurried, jumbling thoughts rushing through her head.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day while at work, Paige filled out a Leave of Absence form, dating it 5 days from now, which just meant that she now only had two more days left of the work week before her two off days started, then approved or not, she was going to drive back to Toronto, find Dylan and Marco and somehow get in touch with Alex. Paige never knew a heart could break so many times over one person, but from what happened last night into today, she felt as though her heart had broken and shattered at least a hundred times. _I must be so crazy right now_ Paige thought to herself as she walked down the hall, _what the hell am I going to say?! It's been over 3 years, its not like I can just walk up to her and tell her that she's making the biggest mistake of her life and that she needs to be with ME, not anybody else, especially not a guy!_ She came to the conclusion that if and when she finds Dylan and Marco she will not tell either of them about her plan of action, as they would probably think she has gone insane, so she'll just keep the information to herself, and figure out what to do, until then.

After lunch, Paige felt a little sick so she decided to take the rest of the day off. But as she got in her car to leave, she wasn't headed to go back to her apartment, instead, the car was headed towards Toronto.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" she said aloud, "I'm a total stalker...holy shit!" she dialed Sarah's cell phone number but nobody answered so she left a message while going 75 down the highway, "hey hun, something came up at my parent's house and its really important that I be there. Call me back if you want or else I'll see you in a few days." and as she hung up, she knew that that was not going to fly with Sarah. Sarah could be a bit controlling at times but Paige knew that if she wanted her life to change she had to at least try something foolish. "its better to try and fail then to never have tried at all" she said to herself as she took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself down. She wasn't going to get to her parents house until nightfall. She called them up and let them know she was on her way to visit. They were very excited to hear her voice and that she was planning on coming to visit.

As she was driving, she remembered that there was a little restaurant outside of town where Alex's mom used to work and had worked for nearly 20 years. She figured maybe she could stop there to get something to eat and scope out the place, see if her mom still works there and if she can find out any information. But then she thought better of it. She'll just go to the restaurant to eat, she didn't want to stir up any dirt if she didnt have to.

She finally came upon the little restaurant, it was only about 20 minutes outside of town so she was glad that she was almost home. She went inside and waited to be seated.

The hostess walked up to her with a smile, "how many, just one?"

"yeah, just one" replied Paige trying not to look nervous.

"right this way please" smiled the hostess.

Just as Paige was walking behind the hostess to her table, a familiar face cut in front of her to get to the table full of people just next to her, "hi" chuckled the waitress.

"Hi" Paige replied back, _Does she remember me? Did she just chuckle cuz she knows why I'm here?!"_

"your table, miss" the hostess said, placing a menu on the table, "somebody will be right with you."

"thank you" Paige said as she took a seat and grabbed the menu. Looking from it to the busy waitress she remembered being Emily. She then buried her face into the menu, still trying to figure out who or what has taken over her mind—she was once sane and stable, but now she's insecure and foolish, and that is exactly why nobody should know why she's home.  
"Do you know what you want to order?" a soft voice asked on the other side of the menu.

Paige quickly looked up, realizing it wasn't the waitress she was thinking it would be. She sighed in relief, "oh um. I think I'll just have a salad, but with lots of croutons."

"sure thing" replied the waitress before disappearing.

Before she knew it, Paige was back on the road again headed for home. As she passed certain landmarks and places, she couldn't help but reminisce about those places and how she and Alex used to picnic there or how they got into a big fight over there or how they would sneak off campus to go over there or...she shook her head, "not now!" she said to herself sternly, "focus, focus..." she grimaced, "what the hell am I doing here!?" and pulled into the driveway of her parent's home, "oh my god, I'm completely insane, I've lost my marbles, please tell me this is all just a bad dream, or that I'm in a coma and this is all just bad thoughts" she tightened her grip on the steering wheel before taking a deep breath and getting out of the car.

To her surprise it was Dylan who came running out of the house to greet her, "whats up Sis!" he yelled happily giving her a bear hug.

"Dylan!" she matched his excitement, "what are you doing here, I wasn't expecting to see you tonight!"

"Mom called and told me you were coming to visit, I dropped everything to come over, its been too long since we've seen each other!" He looked passed her, "where's Sarah?" he inquired.

She quickly changed the subject, "so how's Marco?"

The two walked into the house together, "he's good, he's good. He's missed you, ya know. Everybody has."

"I know-I've been--"  
"PAIGE!!" screamed her parents as they rushed to greet her, "we're so glad you came home, tell us how you are, how's Sarah, how's work?"

Everybody laughed as everybody was trying to talk over each other. They had dinner and conversed a little more before her parents went off to bed. She and Dylan stayed up in the living room and talked about how things were going.

"So what are you really doing here?" Dylan inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm. Cant tell you" she replied nonchalantly.

"there's a reason you came back, and it's not about Mom and Dad, is it?"  
"How do you know?" Paige inquired this time.

"let me let you in on a little secret, shall I? Have you ever heard of those myspace trackers?"  
"yeah, so, they're fake, they dont work."  
"not true." Dylan replied, "in fact, Marco has one on his page and what's cool about that particular tracker is that it shows where the person is at in real life."  
Paige gulped, not sure where this was headed.

"you hadn't been to Marco's page in over a year, and now you're home so I put two and two together and you _Must_ be here for him, right?!"

Paige was once again relieved then nodded with a smile, "exactly. He was my best friend in high school and we did live together before I just up and moved away without saying goodbye to anybody."

Dylan did a little dance, "I love reunions! Well, you'll see him tomorrow. But right now I've got to hit the hay so I'll see you in the AM."

As Paige made herself comfy on the couch she couldnt help but realize that what she was doing home was crazy and that nobody in their right mind would want to talk to their first love if they just showed up out of the blue like this. Again, Paige fell asleep even more confused, with even more things running through her brain.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning after Paige's parents went off to work, she placed herself on the computer chair and searched again for Alex's profile. This time she found it quicker than the last time and continued to snoop around. She maneuvered her way over to the profile of Alex's best friend where she found herself looking at the same picture that changed her life, Alex sitting on a boy's lap. Not thinking anybody was around, she yelled in frustation, "_What are you DOIIIINNNGG!?_ You cant be happy!!"

Just then she realized that Dylan was standing behind her, "It's Alex you came back for!"

which made Paige jump and click out of the internet all together, "how long were you standing there?!" she yelled at him

"Long enough to know that Alex is pregnant??"

"what do you mean, you're as confused as I am?!" She put her hand on her forehead as if to try to figure things out better, then, still confused, replied, "I have to talk to her, I have to see her!"  
"and then what? Tell her you're still in love with her? Do you _Realize_ how crazy that would be!"  
Paige threw her hands in the air, "What are you talking about Dylan! You came back for Marco all those years ago so dont tell me about being crazy!"  
Dylan stopped arguing and stood up straight realizing that his sister was right.

They both took deep breaths, then Paige's voice seemed calmer, "the profile says she lives back here in Toronto, and she's still friends with Marco, I wonder if they ever get together. Maybe we could..." she paused, not sure what to say.

"well, ok, remember when I came home 'all those years ago' just to see Marco? What if we have a get-together at Marco's place and you guys meet up there. Kinda like what we did to get me and Marco back together—or at least a neutral place to start a conversation."

Paige chuckled, "yeah, I remember that went well. Not! But its a better plan than I had going—actually, I didnt have a plan so its better all around."  
"Sweet, I'll call Marco, oh by the way, he lives about 15 minutes outside of town and lives on a lake, how cool is that? A lake party would be off the hook, with a camp fire and beer, I'm likin' this idea Paige. Good thinkin."

With that, Dylan went to the other room to call Dylan and to make plans for the lake party tomorrow night, and to make sure that Marco knew indirectly that in all his efforts it was best that Alex be there.

The rest of the day Paige just seemed to work herself up over the unknown outcome of what could happen tomorrow night. She felt like she was in high school all over again, but this time she was the one creating all the drama.

Finally Dylan handed her the phone, "call her up right now" and he raised his eyebrows.

"and what, tell her I could turn out to be a stalker if she doesnt talk to me?!"

"Noooo!" Dylan retorted, "call her and tell her that you've come home to visit and will be at the party tomorrow night and you would like to see her."

Paige grabbed the phone and whispered, "Riiiight" sarcastically, before dialing the number to Alex's phone. How Dylan had it on hand was still a mystery.

The phone rang several times before an unfamiliar husky voice answered, Paige panicked and put her hand over the speaker and mouthed to Dylan, "Its a dude, what do I say!" but Dylan took the phone and spoke into it instead, "Hey man, its Dylan. Just wondering if you and Alex will be going to the party Marco is throwing tomorrow night?"

The unfamiliar voice answered cheerfully, "yeah, yeah, we just got the invite, something about a reunion?"

Dylan stammered his words, "uh, a, a uh high school reunion?" he looked confused,

"yeah maybe, Alex hasnt seen Marco in months, I think she'd love to go."

"oh well, thats great, see you then!" Dylan replied before hastily hanging up the phone.

"Why dont you know anything about this?!" Paige demanded,

"I dont live in this town either, Paige! Chill out, seriously! You're working yourself up for nothing, just relax until tomorrow!" and with that he turned around and stomped away.

An hour later the phone rang, not thinking anything of it, Paige answered the phone, "Hello?" she said, organizing her mother's bath towels.

"Uh, hello, Paige?" sounded a nervous but cheery voice.

"Yeah, who is this?" she asked, smiling into the phone thinking it was neat somebody knew she was home.

"Is it really Paige? Paige, its Alex! Its so great to hear your voice, hell yes I'm going to the party tomorrow night."  
Paige panicked, there was nobody around that she could whisper-scream to so she walked in circles around the room before clearing her throat, "oh my god, hey Alex, its great to hear your voice too, we have so much to talk about!" she tried to sound convincingly excited but she wasnt too sure if she managed it.

"Hey, I just wanted to call and let you know I got your message earlier, but I have baby stuff to get ready so I'll see you tomorrow!"  
Paige quickly hung up the phone, "I cant wait til tomorrow, I'm going to have a heart attack for having to wait so long! Baby stuff?! what the fuck is she talking about?!"

But just as she thought that, the phone rang again, she answered it and it was Alex once again, she cheerfully asked, "hey, I just had this idea that baby stuff could wait, lets get lunch or something right now! Meet me at the restaurant my mom works at!"

"sure!" Paige replied, thinking that this was all going way too fast, she still had no idea what she wanted to say, and how Alex could be so cheery and happy! What the Fuck?!

_Oh that,s right, she's not a fucking douche bag right now! I'm the crazy paranoid one! _Paige yelled at herself as she got into her car to drive to the restaurant.

20 Minutes later she had arrived at the restaurant, and saw that Alex was already in there waiting for her. The two immediately saw each other and threw each other into a bear hug at the same time. Alex was still beautiful with her shoulder length hair and double tank top. "You're so beautiful!" Paige shrieked as she touched Alex's hair. She smiled ear to ear as she looked at Alex, memorizing her features, hoping this wasnt a dream. She just wanted to sit in Alex's company forever, but knew that she had to let her know how she felt first.

During the lunch, under a dim-lit light in a somewhat dark, almost romantic like room, Paige and Alex talked about their lives, lovingly holding each other's hand across the table.

After a pause in the conversation, Paige asked, "so any lucky girlfriends or boyfriends?"

"yeah" Alex half smiled, but instead of answering the question with what Paige was looking for, she just looked lovingly into Paige's eyes, which made Paige kind of blush.

She hesitated, then said, "I'm happy for you." but it took all her might to stop herself from tearing up, she definitely didn't mean what she just said.

The two made light conversation the rest of lunch, making each other laugh and reminisce, and Paige figured it would be best to maybe just try to leave it alone and try to just have Alex as a friend. She didn't want to risk the possibility of pushing Alex away again.

They walked each other outside before hugging goodbye. _A friendship hug_ Paige thought to herself disappointingly, _but if Alex is happy...I guess that's just something I'll have to deal with._

"See you tomorrow night, Paige, it was so great seeing you today!" Alex said happily before waving goodbye.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note; yes, this chapter is really really short, but hopefully it adds in a lot of drama, let me know what you think!**

The next night came and Paige and Dylan drove together to the party, all the while Paige getting even more nervous, "I am such a freak right now, Dyl, I dont even know what I'm doing!"  
"Chill out!" he whined as he pulled into the lot of where the party was, "as I said before, there is no reason as to why you need to work yourself up, it will fall into place and if you are seen acting like a nutcase then she wont take you seriously. Paige," he said looking at her, "take a deep breath, please, close your eyes. Here, I'll do it too." and they both took two slow, deep breaths before Dylan spoke again, "see, now wasn't that nice? " then he pointed at the lake in front of them, "now if this isn't one of the best romantic scenes you've ever seen, I dont know what is" he tried making light of the situation, "if she doesn't fall for you again out here, she must be mental."  
Paige tried to smile as they both got out of the car, "thanks for trying to help."

Finally she looked around and noticed a camp fire going on in the distance. There weren't as many people around as she had expected. _Definitely not like the high school days_, she thought to herself. This was a pretty secluded area, not many houses near this one, and across the lake the outside lights of other houses could be seen flickering into the night. The sky was clear and bright, and the moon light blanketed the darkness like a flashlight. Dylan went to go find Marco while Paige was left to herself to meander through the camp. She went inside the cabin where a few people were seen grabbing extra beers from the cooler in the living room. As Paige made her way through the cabin, she heard a muffled sound coming from the kitchen, which she realized was a stereo playing different music then outside so she made her way to the kitchen to see what kind of music it was. She noticed Alex was fixing herself a drink at the counter, two people having a conversation walking through, and Paige made her way over to Alex where they both smiled at each other before hugging each other hello.

Alex and Paige began making light conversation again when Alex got a phone call. "Hey Michael," she smiled, "why didn't you come, you really should come and meet Paige, you'd love her!" she paused as Michael spoke into the phone. Then she replied, "ok sweetie, love you too, I'll see you later tonight, tell Caden I said goodnight!" and with that, she hung up the phone and got back to the conversation with Paige.

"Who's Michael?" Paige asked, she gasped, she didn't mean to ask who it was, she already knew who it was! Damn Michael is Alex's boyfriend! _Oh Gahd! _Paige kicked herself, she wished she hadn't said anything!  
Alex hesitated, looking down as she absent mindedly kicked the ground, "Michael's, um..."

"I lied before" Paige blurted out.

"what?" Alex asked, looking up and into Paige's face, somewhat confused.

"I lied when I said I was happy for you." she began talking fast, somewhat rambling, "I'm not happy for you!" her voice was getting raised, "_I don't believe you're happy, you cant be happy" _and tears began forming in her eyes, "How could you just fall in love with a guy? After what we had, how could you just change like that?!"

Alex's eyes widened, stepping forward, "you're unbelievable Paige, are you serious right now?! Where are you getting your information?!" Alex was pissed off and she was letting Paige know it. Nobody was in the kitchen, it was just them, not that it would have mattered since they were too invested in the intensity of their fight to have noticed.

But just then, Dylan and a laughing Marco came gamboling into the kitchen, not realizing there was a fight going on.

"He's Transgender!" yelled Alex


	5. Chapter 5

"He's Transgender!" yelld Alex, her words stopped the boys in their tracks and, caught Paige off guard making her jaw drop open, then slowly asking, "what does that mean?" she looked genuinely confused, definitely not where she was expecting this conversation to go, not even in a million years.

"It means I'm still a lesbian, Paige!" Alex continued yelling, "It means that Michael was once a girl but had the gender reassignment surgery and is now a guy!" she wiped her forehead, "I haven't changed Paige so don't even accuse me of doing so!" She leaned forward, holding onto the counter, "You're the one who broke my heart first!" and with that, Paige collapsed into the chair behind her, looking a bit disheveled and very disoriented as she tried to make sense of everything that just occurred, but before she could regain her composure, Alex glared at her before rushing out of the kitchen.

Paige's eyes widened in a sort of panic-stricken style, "what did I just do!?"

Before she could run after Alex, Marco stopped her, "let her be right now, Paige." and he looked at her with a concerned look upon his face.

"Whoa, talk about high school drama" chuckled Sarah as she strutted her way into the kitchen from the door that Alex just left from.

"_Are you serious?!_" Paige shrieked, definitely not expecting to see Sarah at an out-of-the-way party like this, "what are you doing here?!" her anger wasn't from Sarah, but it was definitely being directed at her.

Sarah stopped smiling, "thought I'd surprise you?"

Speechless, Paige threw up her arms before running out of the kitchen, through the living room where she had originally entered, leaving the other three to wonder what in the world just happened. Paige had to find Alex, she couldn't lose her, not now, not since she was so close.

An hour or so later, Paige gave up looking for Alex, she then surrendered herself to a log that was a small distance away from the camp, sure she wouldn't be able to be found, and she sat down as tears once again streamed down her face.

She had Alex's cell phone number and called it, but it hit the voicemail, she spoke into it, sniffling, "Alex, its Paige. I am so sorry, for everything!" she shook her head, "my emotions got the best of me and it breaks my heart to know that I hurt you, again," and what she didnt know was that Alex was standing close enough to hear what Paige was saying, but far enough away as to not let Paige know she was there. Perhaps in any other circumstance, she would have been considered a stalker.

"I lost you once, Alex, I cant sniffle lose you again, please, call me back" and with that, she hung up the phone, putting her head down in defeat.

Alex stood there for a minute before walking slowly, hesitantly up to where Paige was sitting. She slipped in beside her, taking a seat without really being noticed. Finally she whispered, "Paige", which startled her since her eyes were still closed and her head was still bent down. They looked at each other through the moonlit darkness. Alex shrugged her shoulders before saying softly, "I dont know what to say."

Paige wiped a tear from her eye before taking a deep breath, "just say that you'll give us another chance."

It was Alex this time whose eyes filled with tears, "It's not that easy, Paige. We both cant just leave our lives behind. From what I've been told you've really made something of yourself and are in a happy relationship with Sarah."

Paige made a little sarcastic chuckle, but then said, "I'm not happy, Alex. I just moved on because thats what people are supposed to do."  
"then why'd you move away, Paige?" Alex asked, wanting to know the answer.

"I thought it would be easier to get over you if I didnt see you all the time." she shook her head before sniffling again, "but I was wrong. I didnt realize that I was still in love with you until I found you on myspace. And my heart was broken when I found out you were in a relationship with a _guy!_ and have a kid with him! But now I'm even more confused about the whole transgender thing!"

"Caden is Michael's daughter, not mine." Alex replied, cupping Paige's face trying to make light of the situation, "besides, you made me gay. And I'm still gay."

they both chuckled. Then Alex continued, "I've been with Michael for over two years, when I met him he was just beginning the hormone treatment so at that time he was still Maia. I supported him throughout the process but we've just been going our separate ways because I'm not in love with him and he knows that." with that, she paused, "but I'm still trying to get my life together, Paige, so it wouldn't be fair to you if we got back together. I wouldnt want to hold you back." she chuckled, "plus, we can't just leave the lives we've built."

"From what I've been told, you're getting your life on track, and through the grapevine it's been said that you have one year left at the junior college. I could move back here if you're willing to give us another try..." The two just gazed at each other in silence. It seemed like several minutes had passed before Paige blushed, which only made Alex go in for the kiss.

But as the two were leaning in for their first kiss, Sarah was heard in the background(!), "there you are, Paigey, I've been looking all over for you." oblivious, she sat down right next to Paige who shot a horrified look in Alex's direction and was brought back to reality just in time to realize how much she disliked Sarah at this very moment. That sweet kiss she was looking forward to from Alex was shot down, and she was a little agitated. She turned around and tilted her head to the side like she always does when in the agitated state, which only made Alex smile inside—Alex really did miss Paige even if she did jump to conclusions.

"Let's go for a walk" she said in irritation. Sarah and Paige stood up, Paige discreetly squeezing Alex's hand before leaving.

"I'll call you" Paige said over her shoulder as she and Sarah walked away, disappearing into the darkness.

Alex was contemplative as she looked out onto the moonlit lake in front of her. For once, in a pretty long time, she felt secure, and sure of herself and her future, with Paige. It might not happen right now, but in time, good things will fall into place.


	6. Chapter 6

Alex was contemplative as she looked out onto the moonlit lake in front of her. For once, in a pretty long time, she felt secure, and sure of herself and her future, with Paige.

She wasn't one to show her emotions usually, but she learned a whole lot from Paige once, including how _not_ giving up is harder to do than the actual act, which is something she knew far too well a few years ago. Just within the last couple years she started practicing those words and now goes by the motto of; Never Settle.

Alex went back to the party after reminiscing for a little while longer. She left the isolated area feeling content. When she had gone back into the kitchen to find her drink, she bumped into Michael. He arrived at the party after all. Alex half smiled, took him to the kitchen table where they both sat down. The atmosphere was comfortable as the lights in the kitchen were dim and the music was just now low enough you could hear others talking without having to yell over it. The two sat in silence for what seemed like minutes, before Alex spoke. She leaned forward and outstretched her arm, exposing her wrist where her tattoo was, she pointed to it with her other hand, "Do you know the meaning behind my tattoo?"

she looked from it to Michael, "uh, no, you just told me what the symbol means, you never told me the story."

Alex was thoughtful as she looked back at the black tribal sun placed ever so carefully across her wrist, with the Chinese symbol of "Faith" placed strategically inside of it.

"Faith." she looked back up at Michael, smiling shyly, "Paige taught me that." she paused again, then replied, "it just means, never give up and always have faith, even in the worst of times." She wasn't expecting Michael to understand, it wasn't for others to interpret, it was just hers and she liked that.

Michael was pensive, but took her hands in his as he stood up and made her stand up as well. Without speaking, he turned her around and pushed her towards the door in a playful way, "go get her before I kick you in the face, what are you still doing here?!"

As Alex tried to banter and playfully push Michael back, he pushed her through the front door where he suddenly stopped, and catching Alex's attention by nodding his head towards the crowded front yard. They hastily pushed their way through the crowd when they realized that everybody was crowded around a fight that appeared to involve Paige backed into a tree by a threatening Sarah, and Dylan yelling at Sarah as he tried to run through the crowd towards them to protect his sister. On top if it all, sirens could be heard in the distance, somebody must have called the police! It all seemed to happen so fast!

Before she knew it, Alex sprinted through the crowd of people and as the cops had Sarah in handcuffs Alex had her arms around Paige, holding her as Paige broke down and buried her head into Alex's neck and wrapping her arms around her tightly, not wanting to let go. Alex pulled away slightly, and stroked Paige's hair as she whispered, "you're okay now, you're safe."

Paige had never felt so safe.

But the police officer that arrested Sarah had come over to ask Paige a few questions, but because it looked as though she had some cuts and bruises on her arms and face, the officer said, "because of the nature of these wounds, we're going to have to ask you some questions about what happened here tonight." he looked back at his cruiser, "that young lady we just arrested, well, the only thing I can understand are the swear words and other inappropriate language that is coming from her mouth." he looked back at Paige, "do you mind if I spoke to you alone?" and he made a gesture with his hand that made Paige reluctantly follow him to discuss what just occurred.

Dylan, Marco and Michael rushed towards Alex, "what just happened?!" they all said in unison.

"You're asking me? I have no idea!" she replied as she looked from them to where Paige and the officer were. She shook her head and gritted her teeth as she noticed that Paige was crying, "How could anybody want to hurt her? Gahd, I'm such an idiot for letting her go off with Sarah like that--"  
"Stop it right there, Al," Marco snapped, "you didn't know anything like this would have ever happened, so dont even begin to blame yourself!"

After a few minutes of talking they noticed that the officer was leaving and that Paige was walking towards them. They all rushed to meet her, trying not to bombard her with too many questions but failed at the "trying not to part" as they all sputtered out questions at the same time.

She seemed to ignore them and only see Alex, "I have to get my stuff from my apartment tonight--"  
"Paige, it's almost one in the morning!" Dylan snapped, "You live like, 3 hours away!"

"they're releasing her tomorrow because they figured she was just drunk and will just sleep it off in jail tonight." she looked at Dylan, "I dont want to risk her being at the house when I'm trying to get my stuff and leave."

Marco replied, "that's a good idea, why don't you go too, Michael?"  
Alex and Michael laughed, not really meaning too, but then Alex replied, "are you kidding? Don't let this man-disguise fool you, he's girlier than I am and would curl up into a fetal position if anybody even looked at him wrong!"

Marco tilted his head as if to say _Really? That means you're flamboyantly gayer than I am!_

After the teasing and joking, Alex replied, "I don't have class tomorrow, want me to drive?"

Paige wiped a tear from her face, "you mean the world to me, Alex, I love you so much."

Alex wrapped Paige in her arms to let her know she understood and that she felt the same way. It's been years since the two were ever this close and Alex thought she'd never feel it again until one day out of the blue—yesterday to be exact—the one person who had her heart completely had come back into her life.

Paige said her goodbyes to Dylan and Marco and Michael before she and Alex got into the car and sped their way to Paige's apartment, 3 hours away.


End file.
